ly
freezing all the way down. But little caring for this now, on they
went, and after considerable fatigue and some delay, arrived at
Kolimsk, to the utter astonishment of all the inhabitants, who had
long given them up for lost.

Great rejoicings took place. The friends of the three Kolimsk men
gave a grand festival, in which the rum, and tobacco, and tea, which
had been left at the place for payment for their journey, played
a conspicuous part. Then, as it was necessary to remain here some
time, while the ivory was brought from a deposit near the sea,
Ivan and Kolina were married. Neither of them seemed to credit the
circumstance, even when fast tied by the Russian church. It had come
so suddenly, so unexpectedly on both, that their heads could not quite
make the affair out. But they were married in right down earnest, and
Kolina was a proud and happy woman. The enormous mass of ivory brought
to Kolimsk excited the attention of a distinguished exile, who drew
up a statement in Ivan's name, and prepared it for transmission to the
White Czar, as the emperor is called in these parts.

When summer came, the young couple, with Sakalar and a caravan of
merchants, started for Yakoutsk, Ivan being by far the richest and
most important member of the party. After a single day's halt at
Mioure, on they went to the town, and made their triumphal entry in
September. Ivan found Maria Vorotinska a wife and mother, and his
vanity was not much wounded by the falsehood. The _ci-devant_ widow
was a little astonished at Ivan's return, and particularly at his
treasure of ivory: but she received his wife with politeness, a little
tempered by her sense of her own superiority to a savage, as she
designated Kolina to her friends in a whisper. But Kolina was so
gentle, so pretty, so good, so cheerful, so happy, that she found her
party at once, and the two ladies became rival leaders of the fashion.

This lasted until the next year, when a messenger from the capital
brought a letter to Ivan from the emperor himself, thanking him for
his narrative, sending him a rich present, his warm approval, and the
office of first civil magistrate in the city of Yakoutsk. This turned
the scales wholly on one side, and Maria bowed low to Kolina. But
Kolina had no feelings of the parvenu, and she was always a general
favorite. Ivan accepted with pride his sovereign's favor, and by
dint of assiduity, soon learned to be a useful magistrate. He always
remain